A new robotic technology at OSF St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg is helping physicians accurately and safely diagnose small lung lesions at an early stage, giving patients quicker answers and clearer paths forward for care.
Since the hospital acquired an Ion robotic bronchoscopy system in February, Dr. Usman Cheema has used it in more than 90 cases.
Cheema, a pulmonologist at OSF St. Mary Medical Center since 2003, said the system has changed his practice by allowing him to reach nodules as small as five millimeters anywhere in a patient’s lungs to be biopsied. He said it also saves local patients from having to wait for specialized care at larger medical centers in Peoria or Iowa City.
“The key is trying to make a diagnosis at a very early stage,” Cheema said. “If lung cancer is diagnosed at stage one or two, the five-year survival rate can be upwards of 65 or 70 percent. But if it progresses to stage four, the five-year survival drops to eight percent.”
Beyond the benefits of early detection, Cheema said the new technology is safer and less invasive than traditional CT-guided needle biopsies, which can result in collapsed lungs up to 30 percent of the time.
“With this new robotic bronchoscopy, that risk goes down to one or two percent,” he said.
The system uses a patient’s CT scan to build a 3D map of the lungs, guiding a thin instrument through complex airways directly to targeted tissue.
“As a physician, you’re the one in control,” Cheema said. “It guides you where to go, but it’s the humans who control all these things.”
Nancy Easley, a Galesburg resident in her 80s, learned about two spots on her lungs after getting a back X-ray.
Using the robotic system, Cheema biopsied the targeted areas and sampled Easley’s lymph nodes during a single procedure to make a diagnosis — without having to make an incision.
“It didn’t even have a mark where they went in and looked,” Easley said.
Cheema said the new bronchoscopy system is the second robotic technology being used at OSF St. Mary Medical Center. Last year, the hospital acquired the Da Vinci system, which provides minimally invasive options for major surgeries.
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